Farmers Insurance filed a lawsuit accusing a former Oklahoma agent of redirecting customers and policies to competing insurers before leaving the company.
The complaint, filed March 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, alleges that Bradley McKinney violated his Agent Appointment Agreement by selling policies for other carriers from his Farmers agency office.
Farmers claims McKinney downloaded confidential customer information shortly before ending his relationship with the company in 2025.
According to the lawsuit, he exported the agency’s entire book of business and shared the data with producers at another insurance agency.
McKinney operated McKinney Insurance & Financial Services in Tulsa from 2010 through 2025 under his Farmers agency contract.
His wife, Tory McKinney, and producer Christopher Spicer worked there until 2023 before joining Hometown Insurance Agency.
The lawsuit states that Bradley McKinney began steering Farmers customers to Tory McKinney and Spicer at Hometown during late 2023.
Farmers says policies written through the Tulsa agency declined during 2023, fell further in 2024, and dropped more sharply during the first months of 2025.
Farmers alleges that on February 18, 2025, McKinney downloaded the full client list from the company’s internal systems in spreadsheet form. Two days later he submitted a letter announcing termination of his agent agreement.
The carrier states that customer records are stored within secure internal systems requiring multi-factor authentication. The company classifies the data as proprietary trade secrets.
Farmers terminated McKinney’s agent appointment on May 15, 2025, roughly two weeks before his planned departure. McKinney later joined Hometown Insurance Agency.
The insurer seeks actual and punitive damages through a jury trial, alleging breach of contract and misuse of confidential business information.
